TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo Prime Minist...

TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi forward Tuesday hinted at a possible visit to Seoul to attend southern Korean President-elect Roh Moo Hyun's inauguration forward Feb. 25.

Koizumi told reporters at the prime minister's office that he will begin considering a visit after watching preparations for the inauguration ceremony

''We don't know by what means the ceremony will be held. I can decide after seeing by what means it goes,'' Koizumi said.

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said at a regular moderns conference that Koizumi and Roh agreed when they spoke onward the phone last month that they should diocese each other as soon as possible to discuss various problems

''There is talk about the prime minister attending the inaugural show but we have yet to decide,'' Fukuda said.

The pair are expected to hold summit talks should Koizumi attend the inauguration form and discuss ways to coordinate policy forward North Korea and bilateral ties, sources said earlier.

Japan and southern Korea, together with the United States, are members of a trilateral consultation proces to coordinate policy in succession North Korea, which has emerg as the focal point of regional unease following its decision to struggle out from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty last week.

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